East Water-Wise Garden

Twin Flowered Agave

Agave geminiflora

Agave geminiflora has narrow dark green leaves that all grow outwards from the center of the plant. Its flowers grow in pairs that form from a long spike that grows out of the plant. The name 'geminiflora', means "twin flowered" and is a reference to the fact that the flowers grow in pairs.

  • Plant Type: Evergreen succulent
  • Water Needs: Low
  • Mature Height: 2' - 3'
  • Mature Width: 2' - 4'
  • Sun Needed: Full Sun
  • USDA Zones: 9 to 11
  • Colors: Green
  • Bloom Color: Yellow
  • Bloom Season: Infrequent
  • Native To: Mexico

Mexican Blue Palm

Brahea Armata

The Mexican Blue Palm is a slow-growing fan palm with a solitary stout trunk. The striking fan-shaped leaves are attached on long stalks armed with yellow teeth. In the summer, the spectacular creamy-colored flowers cluster on 15-foot-long inflorescences, which rise up and arch over and down from the middle of the crown of leaves.

  • Plant Type: Evergreen palm
  • Water Needs: Low
  • Mature Height: 25' - 40'
  • Mature Width: 6' - 8'
  • Sun Needed: Full Sun to Partial Shade
  • USDA Zones: 9 to 11
  • Colors: Silver-blue
  • Bloom Color: Cream
  • Bloom Season: Summer
  • Native To: Baja California

Guadelupe Palm

Brahea edulis

Brahea edulis is a slow growing, long lived fan palm with a thick trunk and blue-green wide leaves. It flowers in the summer, producing cream yellow flowers that later bear fruits that are edible and are eaten fresh or used in preserves. Brahea edulis is native to the north end of Guadalupe Island where it grows in the fog belt between 1,300 and 3,300 feet in elevation.

  • Plant Type: Evergreen palm
  • Water Needs: Low
  • Mature Height: 20' - 30'
  • Mature Width: 13'
  • Sun Needed: Full Sun to Partial Shade
  • USDA Zones: 9 to 11
  • Colors: Green, Brown, Gold
  • Bloom Color: Cream, Yellow
  • Bloom Season: Summer
  • Native To: Guadeloupe Island in the Caribbean

Dwarf Poinciana

Caesalpinea pulcherrima

A fast-growing upright shrub or small tree, the Dwarf Poinciana has colorful flowers on prickly branches. In the tropics it can grow up to 20 feet high and bloom all year.

  • Plant Type: Evergreen shrub
  • Water Needs: Medium
  • Mature Height: 10' - 20'
  • Mature Width: 6' - 12'
  • Sun Needed: Full Sun
  • USDA Zones: 9 to 11
  • Colors: Green
  • Bloom Color: Orange-yellow with Red stamens
  • Bloom Season: Most of the year depending on the climate
  • Native To: Tropical Americas

Variegated Carmel Creeper

Ceanothus x 'Diamond Heights'

The Varigated Carmel Creeper is an unusual low-growing Ceanothus hybrid that will appeal to those who are attracted to variegated foliage. It is a bright low-growing shrub with chartreuse leaves splashed with dark green, and an excellent choice for containers, along a shady border, or spilling over a wall.

  • Plant Type: Evergreen shrub
  • Water Needs: Low
  • Mature Height: 1' - 12"
  • Mature Width: 4' - 6'
  • Sun Needed: Full Sun to Partial Shade
  • USDA Zones: 8 to 10
  • Colors: Yellow to Chartreuse
  • Bloom Color: Blue
  • Bloom Season: Spring
  • Native To: California

Medditerranian Fan Palm

Chamaerops humilis

Mediterranian Fan Palm is a clustering palm that has stocky trunks and a large, bushy, mounded form. It makes a nice barrier or group accent at the corner of the landscape. Use in containers for patio, deck or foundation areas. It's often used in commercial landscapes where its slow growth needs little maintenance. It may even be grown indoors as a houseplant.

  • Plant Type: Perennial evergreen
  • Water Needs: Low
  • Mature Height: 6' - 15'
  • Mature Width: 6' - 20'
  • Sun Needed: Full Sun to Partial Shade
  • USDA Zones: 8a to 11b
  • Colors: Blue-grey, Green, Brown
  • Bloom Color: Gold, Yellow
  • Bloom Season: Spring
  • Native To: Mediterranian coast of Europe and North Africa

Toothless Desert Spoon

Dasylirion longifolium

Toothless Desert Spoon is a large evergreen trunk-forming shrub with fairly rigid long narrow grass-like leaves. The leaves radiate symmetrically out of a large woody trunk that can slowly but eventually grow to 6 to15 feet tall. Not each year but generally summer to fall, a nine-foot-tall spike of small white flowers emerge from reddish buds.

  • Plant Type: Evergreen succulent
  • Water Needs: Low
  • Mature Height: 6' - 10'
  • Mature Width: 4' - 6'
  • Sun Needed: Full Sun
  • USDA Zones: 7 to 11
  • Colors: Green
  • Bloom Color: White
  • Bloom Season: Summer
  • Native To: Mexico

Moroccan Mound

Euphorbia resinifera

Euphorbia resinifera is a dense, slow-growing shrub that forms a multi-stemmed, cushion-shaped clump with small protruding spines. The name ‘resinifera’ comes from the toxic resinous substance this plant produces.

  • Plant Type: Succulent
  • Water Needs: Low
  • Mature Height: 2'
  • Mature Width: 6'
  • Sun Needed: Full Sun
  • USDA Zones: 9a to 11b
  • Colors: Green
  • Bloom Color: Yellow
  • Bloom Season: Spring/Summer
  • Native To: Morocco

Chinese Fan Palm

Livistonia Chinensis

Livistonia Chinensis is often used as an ornamental tree in gardens and parks because of its fan-shaped leaves and its ability to grow well in many conditions. It can grow in a range of soils types including clay, loam, sand, acidic, and alkaline, and it can grow in both full sun and full shade.

  • Plant Type: Tree
  • Water Needs: Medium
  • Mature Height: 20' - 50'
  • Mature Width: 11' - 15'
  • Sun Needed: Full Sun
  • USDA Zones: 9 to 11
  • Colors: Green, Brown, Black
  • Bloom Color: White
  • Bloom Season: Spring
  • Native To: Japan, Taiwan, China, Ryukyu Islands, and Hainan

Senegal Date Palm

Phoenix reclinata

Phoenix reclinata is a tall multi-trunked palm with slender light-gray trunks that curve outward and hold green leaves at their tips. It is a dioecious species, which means it has either male or female flowers. The females produce small, orange fruits. It is often found in riparian areas, but can also grow in drier areas like grasslands.

  • Plant Type: Evergreen palm
  • Water Needs: Medium
  • Mature Height: 20' - 30'
  • Mature Width: 15' - 25'
  • Sun Needed: Full Sun
  • USDA Zones: 9a
  • Colors: Green, Brown, Orange
  • Bloom Color: Insignificant
  • Bloom Season: Infrequently
  • Native To: Central Africa, Madagascar, Comoro Islands

Ravenala madagascariensis

Traveler's Palm

Up to one quart of rain water can accumulate in the cupped base of each leaf stalk of the Traveler's Palm, thus giving rise to the common name for this plant which suggests an emergency drinking water source for travelers in need.

  • Plant Type: Broadleaf evergreen
  • Water Needs: Medium
  • Mature Height: 30' to 50'
  • Mature Width: 15' to 25'
  • Sun Needed: Full Sun
  • USDA Zones: 10a to 11
  • Colors: Green
  • Bloom Color: White
  • Bloom Season: Year-round
  • Native To: Madagascar

Blue Chalksticks

Senecio Serpens

Blue Chalksticks are evergreen succulents that form a semi-trailing mat of upright foliage. Its finger-like leaves are frosty blue-green with pink tips. Blue Chalksticks have white, disk shaped flowers that bloom in summer and attract pollinators.

  • Plant Type: Succulent
  • Water Needs: Low
  • Mature Height: 1'
  • Mature Width: 2' - 3'
  • Sun Needed: Full Sun
  • USDA Zones: 10 to 11
  • Colors: Blue-green
  • Bloom Color: White
  • Bloom Season: Summer/Fall
  • Native To: South Africa

Windmill Palm

Trachycarpus fortunei

Windmill Palms can be grown in large containers. When no protection from strong wind is provided, the leaves tend to tear. The damage is not lethal, but it is unsightly. The dark brown bark is fibrous and often used in the making of rope, brooms, mats, and cloth in China.

  • Plant Type: Perennial evergreen
  • Water Needs: Low
  • Mature Height: 8' - 10'
  • Mature Width: 4' - 6'
  • Sun Needed: Full Sun to Partial Shade
  • USDA Zones: 7a to 11b
  • Colors: Green, Brown
  • Bloom Color: Gold, Yellow
  • Bloom Season: Summer
  • Native To: China
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